MSC justices hit the road in new initiative

‘Have Gavel, Will Travel’ program aims to teach justices about local courts

As a way to build ties with local courts and learn the ins and outs of a trial judge’s daily workload, Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Bridget M. McCormack has launched the “Have Gavel, Will Travel” program.

Over the second half of August, McCormack and Justices Elizabeth T. Clement and Megan K. Cavanagh kicked off the initiative across the state by sitting in with several judges to experience what trial court judges face on a daily basis.

“This was my idea since I was a lawyer in every kind of trial court but I never sat as a trial judge,” McCormack said. “I thought I should have a better sense of what our trial judges are up against, so I asked my senior staff if they thought I could pull this off, and they said I could.”

McCormack’s first visit was to Wayne County Chief Probate Judge Freddie G. Burton Jr., and she said the experience helped provide context into the workings of probate courts.

“As a lawyer, I had appeared in a probate court very few times, so I certainly didn’t have the greater context that I now have for all of the kinds of cases in the probate court and the particular struggles the families there are dealing with. It’s been quite educational,” McCormack said.

McCormack, Clement and Cavanagh were never trial judges throughout their careers.

During each of their visits, the justices sit with a local judge for the first day of their stay before hearing and deciding cases the next day.

“For us, my takeaway is that it will impact my work when I’m working on cases. It will also impact the work we do when we’re passing or reviewing court rule changes that will impact our trial judges, attorneys and the public that has to utilize our trial courts,” Clement said. “It gave me a whole new perspective on the cases that come before us.”

Clement added that what she has learned through her visits was different from what she expected.

“My experience was so much more than just getting a feel for sitting in and doing a docket with a judge,” Clement said. “I love that and it makes me even more excited for this program.”

During a visit to the 29th District Court in Wayne with Judge Laura R. Mack, Clement said she experienced the emotional toll involved with deciding cases.

“It became so apparent to me that as I was sitting next to her, how emotional these cases are and how difficult it is when she has someone standing before her who is struggling in their life with addiction or poverty. I was personally affected and I could feel with her making the decisions that she struggled with that and how hard it is,” Clement said.

Cavanagh has visited Marquette and Kent County. She said the initiative has helped her see disconnects between how something looks on paper and how it works in real life.

“That’s always been something that I’ve thought is really important is to make sure we’re making rule changes that we’re aware of and consider the practical reality of how judges operate given the resources and support to make those decisions,” Cavanagh said. “It’s been invaluable to me to sit with these judges to see how they’re able to decide cases.”

McCormack added that the MSC is charged with administering the courts of the state, and she said that task, along with the court’s decision-making function, are their most important tasks. Through this traveling program, she said the MSC can find better ways to serve the state.

“In our decisions, we usually end up disappointing 50 percent of people 100 percent of the time. In our administrative work, we have the opportunity to actually please 100 percent of the people 100 percent of the time. If we can figure out how we can make our courts do business better, and by that I mean serve the public better, we’re doing something right,” McCormack said.

If you would like to comment on this story, email Thomas Franz at tfranz@mi.lawyersweekly.com.